Musings, observations, and written works from the publisher of Eckhartz Press, the media critic for the Illinois Entertainer, host of Minutia Men, and the writer of "The Living Wills", "$everance," "Just One Bad Century," "Father Knows Nothing," "The Radio Producer's Handbook," and "Records Truly Is My Middle Name"

Friday, December 21, 2012

I just wanted to say thanks again for reading my blogs this year. I had over a million hits for the second year in a row. I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing to bring in that many readers, but thanks.

Also, thanks for supporting my efforts at Eckhartz Press. We just completed our first year of publishing (five books!), and our humble little offerings have sold way beyond our expectations. In fact, we'll be interviewing book designers, editors, and e-formatters soon to expand our little company. If you perform any of those services, please contact me at rick@eckhartzpress.com.

We're very excited about 2013. One of our existing books (knock on wood) is about to be picked up by a major national retailer. (Hopefully when I return in January, I'll have news to report.) And next year we've already comitted to three books; John Records Landecker's memoir "Records Truly is My Middle Name", a novel by Dan Burns, and another media memoir that I'm busy editing. My hope is that I'll have time to finish my next book by the end of the year too. Dave and I are also meeting with at least three prospective authors in January. More details in the coming months.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday season. I'm using the holiday season as an excuse to give myself a tiny little vacation from working/writing.

I already wrote Just One Bad Century's Cubs 365 entries for the rest of the year, and they will continue to post every day (I actually did it--365 different stories about the Cubs!)

I will accompany Eckhartz Press author David Stern to the WGN studios for his radio interview next Thursday December 27th at 9pm. I'll undoubtedly post on the Eckhartz Press blog about that.

This one is getting a lot play today because the Mayans apparently goofed on the end of the world. (I'm personally rethinking my spending spree over the past few days. I guess I will have to pay my credit card after all.)

Have you ever heard my impersonation of a drunk person in a bar singing along with this song? It goes like this..."blah blah blah...LEONARD BERNSTEIN!"

I hadn't really heard of this concept until recently, but apparently there is a subset of Americans that call themselves "Preppers". They are preparing (prepping) for a complete collapse of the world's economy and are therefore stockpiling supplies like food, water, and of course, guns.

It's obviously not exactly a World Series starting rotation (although three of them have pitched in the World Series--Garza, Jackson & Feldman), but it will be serviceable. They are all close to the peak of their careers age-wise, they have all experienced some success at the big league level, and they are all at least legitimate major league pitchers.

Although...Garza and Baker are coming off injuries, Feldman and Wood are coming off bad seasons, Villanueva and Samardzija are converted relievers, and Edwin Jackson is now on his eighth team.

On this day in 1941, just two weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack, Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley scrapped his plans to install lights at Wrigley Field for the following season; donating the lights he had already purchased to the war effort instead. It would be another 47 years before lights were installed.

While Wrigley was dealing with the lights issue, the Chicago Bears were playing in the NFL Championship game in the ballpark. Only 13,341 braved the cold weather to see the defending champion Bears slug it out against the Giants at Wrigley Field.

The Bears won the game 37-9.

Two of the players who played in that 1941 championship game were eventually killed in action during World War II: Bears Quarterback Young Bussey and Jack Lummus of the Giants.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

I remember giving this interview, but then forgot to check for the article. I only found out about it because a buddy sent it to me, mocking me for being referred to as a "Region Notable". When he's right, he's right. That is pretty funny.

"Rick Kaempfer, author, free-lance writer and blogger, couldn’t tell us about just one ornament. Before he and his wife, Bridget, were married in November 1991, their wedding guests teamed up to deck their halls.

“Because we were getting married so close to Christmas, someone suggested that everyone bring a Christmas ornament in addition to a traditional bridal gift,” he said.

The idea was, Kaempfer explains, that their first Christmas tree together "would be filled with personal memories, even though we had only been married for a month."

“I was touched by that 21 years ago, but I'm even more touched by it now," he said. "When we open our box of Christmas decorations every year, all of those ornaments are still in our collection. With each ornament we put on the tree, we're reminded of the family we're still so lucky to have with us, but we're also reminded of our precious departed grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and friends. Every Christmas season they are with us again, if only on our tree."

“Those aren't just decorations to us — they are memories. It's one of the reasons why the day we decorate the tree is among our most anticipated and cherished days of the year.”

As Catherine Johns mentioned to me on Facebook: "What a sentimental story, you region notable, you. I kept waiting for the wisecrack."

I'm sorry, Catherine. Sometimes my German heritage gets the best of me. We are known for our sentimentality and warmth, right?

Jim Antle ‏@jimantle
Wow. A McConnell poll has the Senate minority leader up by just four over Ashley Judd. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/12/20/chuck-hagel-susan-rice-and-the-new-normal-for-cabinet-nominations/ …

Mark Czerniec ‏@MarkCzerniec
Obviously, the $1 ramen is better than the 29-cent ramen. But it's not three times better.

Chet Coppock ‏@ChetCoppock
Why is CBS not re-upping Walter Jacobsen? the guy is a journalistic treasure!

"And Perfect Last-Minute Gifts: For the man who has everything but hair, Eckhartz Press is featuring David Stern's The Balding Handbook: The 5 stages of grieving for your hair. As Publisher Rick Kaempfer says, the book will “bring you back into the light. Of course, you'll need sunscreen when you get there, but the few extra bucks you shell out to the Hawaiian Tropic people is a trifle when you consider the incredible life that awaits you after reading this book. Whether you are a fellow sufferer, or just a mean person that wants to give this book as a gag gift to that baldy you know (“Tee hee, Get it? You're bald!”), “The Balding Handbook is for you.”

Here are a few reviews on GoodReads...

"Stern's book takes the Five Stages of Grieving and applies to hair loss. As a fully actualized bald man, Stern offers advise and insights to his balding brothers. So funny. So funny. So funny. I received this book in the mail and read it the same day. My neighbors must think they are living next to a lunatic as I laughed loud and hard at every chapter."
--Brent Petersen (5 stars out of 5)

"I was given this book by my brother and had no intention of reading it. The next thing I knew I had read the entire book in a few hours. This really is a funny and smart read. Pleasantly surprised."
--Sly (5 stars out of 5)

"This book has given me the will to live. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
--Curly (5 stars out of 5)

On this day in 1900, one of the greatest Cubs of all-time was born, Gabby Hartnett. His real name was Charles Leo Hartnett. No surprise where that nickname came from, he was known as someone who was "constantly talking" when he was catching.

Gabby is known as one of the all-time greats, probably the best catcher of the first half of the 20th century. He played in four World Series for the Cubs, as a backup catcher/pinch hitter in 1929, the starting catcher in '32 and '35 (he won the MVP that year), and in 1938, his "homer in the gloamin" won the pennant for the Cubs. He was also the manager of that team.

As a player he was beloved. As a manager, he was hated. He left the Cubs after 1940 and his last year was spent as a player/manager for the New York Giants. He is buried in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, the same cemetery as Harry Caray.

I was just curious about this, considering the debate going on in this country right now, so I did some research. Just how many guns are there in this country?

*Between 40-50% of American households have a gun.

*More than 10 million guns are sold in America every year.

*There are 90 handguns (just handguns) for every 100 Americans.

*Around 30% of all the guns in the world are owned by Americans.

*15 of the 25 worst mass shootings in the last 50 years took place in the United States.

*The best estimate for total number of guns in America in 2010 was 290--300 million guns. The population is 314 million.

I don't know the answer to the problem of gun violence, but I think it's pretty obvious that the answer is not "more guns" (which I've actually heard some people say). This has been studied, by the way: Turns out that More guns = More homicides.

As in rated by the ratings services. So says the trade publication Radio Ink this morning...

"At some point, advertisers will be able to see Arbitron ratings for radio and Pandora side-by-side. That's according to Nielsen's President of Global Media Products Steve Hasker (pictured). Hasker told Bloomberg, "We want to cover as much of the media landscape as possible and be helpful to our clients in that way." Up until now there has never been any indication that Pandora is an Arbitron client. It sounds like that will change when Nielsen takes over."

That could be very interesting. I think radio would welcome the chance to show that if you measure Pandora and radio apples to apples, radio is still beating Pandora handily. I hope they are right about that.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Help Eckhartz Press author David Stern ("The Balding Handbook") right a 200-year wrong. Please sign his official White House petition to rename the "Bald" eagle, the "Follicly-Challenged" eagle. It's the right thing to do.

If you've been on social media the past couple of days the big story has been the news that Instagram was planning on selling the photos you post there. Instagram was deluged with hate mail, the twittersphere exploded.

"It was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation," CEO Kevin Systrom said in a blog post on Tuesday. "This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing. To be clear: It is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear."

Instead, Systrom said the company planned to integrate promoted posts in users' newsfeeds, similarly to Facebook and Twitter.

"Instagram users own their content and Instagram does not claim any ownership rights over your photos," Systrom wrote. "Nothing about this has changed."

On this day in 1935, future Cubs second baseman Tony Taylor was born in Cuba. Tony was the starting second baseman for the Cubs in 1958 and 1959 but was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1960 for Don Cardwell. The Cubs were clearing out a spot for their brand new acquisition, Don Zimmer.

When the Cubs got Zimmer from the Dodgers (for Ron Perranoski), they originally thought Zimmer would play 3B. But Ron Santo emerged, so they moved Zimmer to second base instead.

How did these trades work out for the Cubs? Perranoski ended up becoming one of the premier relief pitchers in baseball for the next decade. He pitched in two league championship series, and three World Series, winning two rings with the 1963 and 1965 Dodgers. He also led the league in saves twice, and saved a total 179 games between 1961 and 1971.

Tony Taylor, who was only 24 years old at the time of the trade, played another sixteen years in the majors with the Phillies and the Tigers. When he retired after the 1976 season he was the oldest player in baseball (40 years old). Don Zimmer was the manager of the Boston Red Sox at the time.

I've met Turi Ryder a few times over the years. She is a friend of John Landecker's from back in their WLS days, and a contributor to the upcoming Eckhartz Press book "Records Truly is My Middle Name". She's also now back on the radio in Chicago. She'll be taking the place of the legendary Milt Rosenberg.

Milt's last show is this coming Thursday night. I never got the chance to interview him, but he did briefly agree to be interviewed once for Chicago Radio Spotlight. At the last moment he backed out because he realized he was violating his own rule about granting interviews.

Milt, by the way, also has a connection to the upcoming Landecker book. He was once a student of John's father, an esteemed sociology professor at the University of Michigan, and spoke very highly of him.

People forget just how much reporters are risking covering the news in dangerous parts of the world. The one guy I always think of is Richard Engel, reporter for NBC News. He speaks Arabic so he can move through the population a little easier than most, but even he was nabbed this week. This statement was released by NBC this morning...

“After being kidnapped and held for five days inside Syria by an unknown group, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and his production crew members have been freed unharmed. We are pleased to report they are safely out of the country.”

On this day in 1943, future Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was born. What does that have to do with the Cubs? Well, check out this strange trifecta of stories from 1972.

Keith and the rest of the Rolling Stones were staying at the Playboy Mansion on State Street in Chicago and absolutely trashing the joint on June 17, 1972. Hugh Heffner was not amused. This memo is quoted in “Hef’s Little Black Book” (by Heffner & Bill Zehme)...

"For your information, the following is a list of damage that resulted from the visit of the Rolling Stones: The White rug in the Red and Blue Room bathroom was burnt and needed to be replaced; The toilet seat was also burnt and had to be replaced; Two bath mats and four towels were also burnt; Red Room chair and couch are stained, possibly to the point of needing reupholstering; Red Room bedspread is badly stained. We are hoping it will come out in cleaning..."

While Keith and his buddies were trashing the Playboy mansion, the Cubs were trashing the Dodgers at Wrigley Field. The newest Cub, Jose Cardenal, smacked a homer and the Cubs won the game 7-2.

And while the Rolling Stones were trashing the Playboy Mansion and the Cubs were trashing the Dodgers, Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel was also being trashed by some burglars.

In the long run that last story turned out to be a little more important the Keith Richards or Jose Cardenal stories from the same day.

From Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's almanac, this little tidbit from 45 years ago today...

"December 17, 1967…In London, John Lennon and George Harrison threw a party for the secretaries of their official Fan Club, during which their "Magical Mystery Tour" film was screened for the first time."

PBS showed that movie this weekend in honor of it's anniversary, and I had forgotten how profoundly weird it was. You don't need drugs. Just watch this movie. It's a very good simulation of using.

The music, on the other hand is still incredibly good. This is probably my personal favorite...

We watched SNL and it sure sounded like Samuel Jackson uttered the "F" word. Of course, coming out of his mouth, it wasn't shocking at all. I checked the NBC site and they tried to mute the word, but I know what I heard. Ah, live TV. I suspect they may be fined for it.

But to me the bit of the night was this one featuring Paul McCartney and Martin Short. I enjoyed it very much...

The story of the shooting at the elementary school is almost too sad to comprehend. Of course the calls will go out for gun control, which I support--especially for automatic weapons. Nobody needs those to hunt or protect themselves.

But the bigger issue, the thing that may prevent even more tragedies, is a realization that our attention to mental health in this country is woeful at best. There are many good points made in this memorable piece. It's written by a mother of a mentally ill boy. It's a tough read, but it's worth it.

When you have mental illness AND ridiculously available guns...that's a recipe for the sort of thing we just experienced. What do you think the odds are that either issue will be adequetly addressed?

On this day in 1859, future Chicago pitcher Wild Bill Hutchinson was born. Wild Bill had his season to remember in 1892. He led the league in wins the previous 2 seasons as well, but in 1892, Hutchinson had the whole package. He started 70(!) games, completed 67 of those, and led the league in wins and strikeouts. During the three years of 1890-1892, he pitched nearly 1800 innings, far and away the highest total in the league.

The story about the nurse committing suicide after being punked by two Australian disc jockeys shocked the world a few weeks ago. Turns out this sort of thing wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for this station. According to Tom Taylor's column today...

"Austereo has pushed talent before – even suggesting a woman get pregnant to help the ratings. Not only did station management suggest the unnamed personality have a baby to boost the numbers, they suggested an optimum time for the birth – “between ratings survey five and six,” says The Australian. The paper says “the ratings-at-any-cost culture existed long before Mel Greig and Michael Christian made their call to Kate Middleton’s London hospital.” For instance – “penis enlargement surgeries are offered as giveaways, and ‘guess who?’ games involving women’s genitalia are brainstormed in staff meetings.” Former Austereo personality Amber Petty says she finally had enough, when management got her father to record a fake obituary for her and ran it during the news. Another former jock says there was an idea tossed around for a “celebrity sperm” competition."

You'll never guess who showed up and played with the Stones last night in Newark...former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. It was his first time playing with them in the U.S. since 1981. This isn't the greatest quality video, but you can see and hear him...

I got a big kick out of Al Kamen's column in this morning's Washington Post. Here's my favorite part...

Washington generally exists in a hyperbolic state, but even the most jaded ears had to prick up when Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) declared to the Washington Times that L’Affaire Benghazi is “10 times bigger” than the Watergate and Iran-contra scandals combined. So, let’s do the math. If Watergate ended in a president’s resignation, plus dozens of criminal convictions, and Iran-contra yielded 11 convictions, and Benghazi is 10 times that serious . . . wait a sec . . . the one . . . then it will result in at least 10 presidents resigning and hundreds of convictions.

Of course it's ridiculous to constantly call everything bigger than Watergate. It's just nice to finally see somebody pointing that out.

On this day in 1949, future Cub Bill Buckner was born. In his first season with the Cubs in 1977, Bill Buckner hit a respectable .284, but is there any doubt that Buckner's mustache was the finest mustache in the entire National League that year?

Billy Buck went on to have a great Cubs career, capped off by a batting title in 1980. In his seven plus seasons with the Cubs, Buckner never hit less .280. When the Cubs traded him early in 1984, it was only because they had another player to take his place at first base...Leon Durham.

Durham and Buckner, of course, share a common fate. Both of their outstanding careers will always be remembered for one little ball that went through their legs at the worst possible time.

Yesterday he announced he and his wife Roma wouldn't be returning to WLS (see story below). Today there was a lot written about Don in the trades, but I found this part very interesting in Tom Taylor's column this morning. I had NO IDEA about this...

"Wade’s conversion from music jock to talkhost was not atypical for pros of his generation. His bio even says “Don is proud of being fired from more radio stations than he could count…because his opinions got him in trouble.” He worked in Philadelphia, Buffalo, Dallas, Denver, Seattle (and Tacoma) before hitting Chicago. The Beatles, whom he’d interviewed, liked him enough to give him a quick cameo in their movie “Help.”

WHAT? Doggone it. I interviewed Don for the upcoming John Records Landecker memoir, and he told me some great stuff about his days in Philly (they will be in the book), but he never mentioned the Beatles story. I have to go back now and watch the movie again. Any idea where Don's cameo was in the film?

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Don's health is the reason why. The incredibly tiring and physically taxing morning show hours are completely incompatible with his rehabilitation from brain cancer. The decision is understandable under the circumstances.

Here's to a full and healthy recovery away from the spotlight's glare.

It turns out that I'm not the only one that notices when the F.C.C. talks about changing media ownership rules. From Inside Radio...

"FCC gets earful on its proposed ownership rules. The issue that brought all five FCC commissioners before the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology yesterday wasn’t media ownership. But the thorny subject was a recurring theme during a hearing about the FCC’s new broadband spectrum law. Subcommittee members continually brought up the commission’s controversial media ownership rules, which would abolish the radio-TV and radio-newspaper cross-ownership limit."

From the NWI Times article..."the venom is put into a cream that can slathered on the face up to twice a week, left on for twenty minutes, and then washed off. Users say the cream has a strong tingle when applied. The venom contains melittin, which is an anaphylactic responsible for the lingering pain caused by bee stings. Melittin also has anti-inflammatory abilities."

You know, as I get older, these things are sounding less and less crazy to me.